Gusman slams mayor's "last-ditch attempt" to get out of OPP consent decree

Responding to Mayor Mitch Landrieu's claims today during an emergency City Council meeting that enacting a proposed federal consent decree for the Orleans Parish Prison would result in mass layoffs, furloughs, operating cuts or some combination, Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman offered a blistering assessment of what he called a "last-ditch attempt" by Landrieu to shirk his responsibilities.

"Today's City Hall spectacle was a last-ditch attempt by the mayor to deflect attention away from a problem he knew was coming for many years," Gusman said at a press conference, which began even as the emergency meeting was in session.? [ Read more ]